Ball State offensive coordinator Stan Parrish knows how to coach quarterbacks. Need proof? Parrish was Tom Brady and Brian Griese’s coach at Michigan when the Wolverines won the 1997 Rose Bowl and national championship. He was Brad Johnson’s coach in 2002 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won their only Super Bowl. And now, this season, Parrish tutored and molded the Cardinals junior quarterback Nate Davis into one of the finest quarterbacks in the country.

And Davis may get his championship, like Brady and Johnson. The upstart, exciting BCS-No. 12 Cardinals are 12-0 for the first time in school history and playing in the Mid-American Conference title game Friday night. Ball State’s average margin of victory has been more than 20 points per game this season, thanks to an offense that can be explosive.

The Cardinals are ranked 13th in the nation in total offense, averaging 456 yards per game. They are 15th in scoring offense, averaging 37.7 points per game. Both totals lead the Mid-American Conference. But as experienced as Parrish is with the quarterbacks, he brings a very balanced attack to Ball State, which lured him out of retirement after a lengthy career. Both the passing offense (259.7 yards per game) and the rushing offense (196.1 yards per game) are ranked in the top 25 in the nation.

The Cardinals piled up these numbers despite losing wide receiver Dante Love to a career-ending neck injury just four games into the season. Love was the nation’s second-leading receiver at the time, averaging 115 receiver yards per game. To pick up the offensive slack, Parrish turned to halfback MiQuale Lewis, who is fourth in the nation in rushing, averaging 130.8 yards per game. Davis has passed for 3,095 yards and 25 touchdowns to only six interceptions. Most impressive is his efficiency rating, sixth in the nation at 169, after completing 218 of 324 passes (67 percent). Also, Ball State’s offensive line has allowed .92 sacks per game, which is good enough for fifth in the nation.

Davis passed for a school-record 3,667 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2007. He ended last season with a career record for touchdown passes with 48. In 2005, Parrish helped quarterback Joey Lynch throw a then school-record 18 TD passes and pass for 1,982 yards, which ranked as the third-highest single-season total at Ball State.

Parrish is in his 38th season as a collegiate coach, which includes 10 seasons as a head coach, when he earned a career record of 57-41-3 while at Wabash College, Marshall and Kansas State.